Frankenstein Takes the Cake

Starred review from July 14, 2008
With maniacal glee, Rex (Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich
) delivers spot-on rhymes about B-movie monsters, loosely organized around the nuptials of Frankenstein and his bride. An oil painting of the wedding cake is as creamy as a Wayne Thiebaud confection, and an author bio in haiku silences quibblers: “He knows Frankenstein's/ the doctor, not the monster/ Enough already.” In a digital comics sequence, Frankenstein's mother-in-law frets over her daughter's resurrection and engagement (“I'm an open-minded person.... but I never thought my little girl would marry someone green. There, I said it”); later, the Bride questions her betrothed but decides, “I'm not getting any less dead.” Rex's ideal audience may be pop-culture buffs: he spoofs Peanuts
with a vampiric Charlie Brown; plans the Frankensteins' reception menu around monsters' food allergies (no garlic for Dracula); sets up the Headless Horseman's photo blog on the tribulations of having a pumpkin head; and creates a running gag about “The Raven,” where a sarcastic bird mocks Edgar Allan Poe. Rex's eclectic imagery and freewheeling verse will have readers going back for seconds. Ages 5–10.